


Official timeline, The Fear of Spiders Overwatch AU

by solarbird



Series: the web of time [5]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Timelines, F/F, F/M, Gen, Overwatch AU, Timeline
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-20
Updated: 2017-07-20
Packaged: 2018-12-04 12:40:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11555406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/solarbird/pseuds/solarbird
Summary: This is an online version of my official timeline forOn Overcoming the Fear of Spidersand all other stories set in that continuity, including all works inthe web of time, and the new work in progress,Old Soldiers. The warnings apply not to the timeline directly, but to the stories referenced; check individual stories for their specific warnings. It is current as of 18 August 2017 and contains materialnot previously released.Spoilers abound.





	Official timeline, The Fear of Spiders Overwatch AU

**Author's Note:**

> I am not kidding about the spoilers. Seriously, this is every major event in every story so far posted, with a little from bits I've written but _not_ yet posted. **Do not read if you care about spoilers**.

### Outside of normal time:

  * An incorporeal Lena "Venom" Oxton, having been blown out of her timeline by the Slipstream incident of 2068, witnesses the events of the canon short "Alive": the assassination of Tekhartha Mondatta, and herself (as Tracer) and her beloved spider Amélie Lacrox (as canon Widowmaker) at each others' throats. She swears that this cannot be allowed to happen. (On Overcoming The Fear of Spiders, Chapter 10, "mondatta (1)")
  * Demicanon: Lena "Venom" Oxton (from "on overcoming the fear of spiders") and Lena "Tracer" Oxton (specifically, the in-game version, as in the version players actually play) meet up for chips. The explanation of Venom's version of the Slipstream accident is canon, as is how Venom would react if somehow she met Game Tracer for real. Venom of 2077, Game Canon Tracer of 2076. (the web of time, "I could murder a chippie")



### 2068:

  * 2068: Lena Oxton's Slipstream explodes over Greece, and she disappears. (On Overcoming The Fear of Spiders, Chapter 10, "mondatta (1)")



### 2069:

  * 2069: the investigation into the Slipstream incident broadened rapidly, and is now a fleet of investigations, each worse than the last. Overwatch's reputation tanks. Lena Oxton is held up as an example of what Overwatch is doing wrong. Jack Morrison suppresses Winston's attempts to recover Lena Oxton as both impractical, possibly dangerous, and politically suicidal. (On Overcoming The Fear of Spiders, Chapter 21, "that which remains", and Old Soldiers, Chapter 1, "you look good in black")



### 2070:

  * 2070: According to Overwatch and Blackwatch, "Amélie Lacroix is kidnapped by Talon and neurally reconditioned. Two weeks after her recovery, she murders her husband Gérard, and returns to Talon to complete reconditioning into Widowmaker." In reality, two Blackwatch agents figure out that Gérard is a Talon mole, and attempt to move on him. They do not know about Amélie being the head of Talon. It goes badly for everyone. (On Overcoming The Fear of Spiders, Chapter 23, "the home they'd built together" (core sections only))
  * Late 2070: Overwatch and Blackwatch are shut down (note this is earlier than game canon, which was 2071.) Blackwatch cooperates. Overwatch does not. It gets violent. The Swiss Overwatch facility is destroyed. (A little in On Overcoming The Fear of Spiders, Chapter 21, "that which remains", mostly in Old Soldiers, Chapter 1, "you look good in black," lots of Morrison's POV in Old Soldiers, Chapter 5, "don't have to tell me twice.")



### 2071:

  * 2071: Winston is exiled to the gorilla colony on the moon. Most other Overwatch agents are allowed to retire quietly, or moved into other positions. A few are allowed to work in their fields, notably Angela Ziegler, who is ably defended by the Swiss government. Blackwatch agents mostly take intelligence jobs in various governments, NGOs, or in some cases, large corporations or criminal organisations.



### 2072:

  * 2072, early spring: ░░░░░░ has found out about Tracer's abandoned in time status, and mentions it to Widowmaker.  

  * 2072, late autumn: Amélie collects necessary data to recover Tracer from time, at Watchpoint Gibraltar. (On Overcoming The Fear of Spiders, Chapter 4: "amélie, perched on a walkway")  




### 2073:

  * 2073, early summer: Amélie and ░░░░░░ break into the ruins of Overwatch's Swiss HQ, and recover Winston's old accelerator. (On Overcoming The Fear of Spiders, Chapter 2, "I don't know how much charge is left")  

  * 2073, early August: Amélie and ░░░░░░ scout Watchpoint Gibraltar and start setup. (On Overcoming The Fear of Spiders, Chapter 3, "a very old code and a keypad lock")  

  * 2073, early August: A couple of days after Chapter 3, Amélie Lacroix and ░░░░░░ have a talk about budgets and go-aheads and software schedules, but it's more interesting than that. (On Overcoming The Fear of Spiders, Chapter 1, "This is a very clever piece of hardware")  

  * 2073, the third week of August: Ten days after Chapter 1, Amélie Lacroix, ░░░░░░, and Dr. Geanna Mariani succeed in pulling Lena Oxton back into time. The Winston accelerator is destroyed, and a test unit is used instead. It is not stable. (On Overcoming The Fear of Spiders, Chapter 6, "blue and grey and a bit too much red," and also, Chapter 10, "mondatta (1)")  

  * 2073, the third week of August: 11 days after Chapter 1, Lena "Tracer" Oxton awakens, and Widowmaker tells her what has happened. (On Overcoming The Fear of Spiders, Chapter 7, "ten thousand metres over Greece and exploded")  

  * 2073, late the third week of September: The test harness begins to fail completely, so a new one must be built; ░░░░░░ says she'll have to leave soon, but will return as a new person. (On Overcoming The Fear of Spiders, Chapter 9, "en el nuevo año, busque una nueva sombra")  

  * 2073, late the fourth week of September, the night before Lena's new accelerator implantation: Amélie Lacroix tells Lena "Tracer" Oxton what the world thinks of Talon, what Talon thinks of Talon, about how they shape the flow of history through assassination, confesses to her husband's murder, and explains why the she felt Lena Oxton had to be saved. (On Overcoming The Fear of Spiders, Chapter 12, "we are very convenient people to blame")  

  * 2073, a warm November: Lena Oxton talks with Winston from the height of Elizabeth Tower, on a long leash of sorts while Amélie is in Glasgow on other Talon business. (On Overcoming The Fear of Spiders, Chapter 5, "a three second lag, with glasses")  

  * 2073, late December. Tracer, running in the rain. Amélie is starting to fall in love with Lena Oxton. (On Overcoming The Fear of Spiders, Chapter 13, "Una singola figura che corre da solo, come un turista catturato sotto la pioggia")  

  * 2073, late December/2074, early January: Lena Oxton starts to decide she needs to try to reclaim her life.  




### 2074:

  * 2074, early February: Tracer tells Widowmaker she needs to leave. Widow says yes. They go out, together, discreetly. (On Overcoming The Fear of Spiders, Chapter 14, "Would you feel better, or worse, if I said yes?")  

  * 2074, late February: Widowmaker realises she's in truly love with Lena Oxton, just as Lena is leaving. (On Overcoming The Fear of Spiders, Chapter 11, part 2: "Un ballet d'enchevêtrement quantique, en deux parties")  

  * 2074, March 1: Lena Oxton departs Filicudi, to reappear in South Africa. Talon have provided the best cover story she'll let them provide. Widowmaker makes an offer: a recall beacon will be waiting for her in London at the Palace Theatre in Coat Check for two weeks. She can pick it up, or not, it's up to her. (On Overcoming The Fear of Spiders, Chapter 15, "Don't Forget; I Never Do")  

  * 2074, March 2: Officially, Lena Oxton appears in the Orange River, near Waterfall Farm 497, and hitchhikes south. Much of that is fake; she's doused in water from the Orange, as was her old flight suit, the fake passport, and her Overwatch ID card. The dust is real; she'll walk into town and be plenty dusty by the time she gets to the consulate. Her passport gets her into the consulate and her Overwatch ID gets her to the ambassador. The ambassador is sympathetic and realises this is important, and ships her off north the next day as a hitchhiker on a cargo plane, after submitting an urgent report but before getting any kind of response.  

  * 2074, March 3: Lena Oxton flies to London, taking off just before the NO GROUND HER IMMEDIATELY response gets to the embassy. By the time everything is cleared up, she's already halfway there, and nothing's happened, so she's allowed to continue with extra warnings to flight crew.  

  * 2074, March 3: Lena Oxton is surprised nobody from the military is at the airport. In reality, a _lot_ of military are at the airport, along with intelligence. She draws money from one of her accounts, and keeps it in cash. She also looks up one of the cheaper hostels, and books a bed. She sleeps (or fakes it) until the 5th, like someone in her position should do.  

  * 2074, March 5: For Tracer, it's been about a year since she's been back to London. She spends a lot of time just wandering around old haunts. Agents are mostly tailing her via CCTV, though there is physical surveillance as well. One of the 'old haunts' is the Palace Theatre, but she's suspecting she's being followed, and does _not_ go to Coat Check, but _does_ buy a ticket for a matinee show on the 8th, the first available, and the biggest expenditure of the week by far. She also buys functional but cheap used outerwear, basic necessities. And a reasonably heavy jacket.  

  * 2074, March 6, 7: She starts trying to contact military officials up her previous command chain. Zero cooperation - that much has already gone out.  

  * 2074, March 8: More of the same, but she takes a midday break for a show. Her coat is returned with the recall beacon in an interior left pocket. At the hostel, she goes to sleep holding it tight. (Widowmaker knows it's been picked up, and goes to sleep that night very, very happy.)  

  * 2074, March 9: The Intelligence Meeting at MI5. MI5 makes some decisions about what to do with their prodigal daughter. (On Overcoming The Fear of Spiders, Chapter 16, "Have we ever encountered a Talon agent without a web?" and The Web of Time, "I think it was the white sauce")  

  * 2074, March 10: The Intelligence Meeting, Talon. (On Overcoming The Fear of Spiders, Chapter 17: "the hacker and the cowboy")  

  * 2074, March 11 (Sunday): Lena finally finds someone she used to know - Imogen, from flight officer school. Imogen insists she doesn't recognise her, that she doesn't know anyone who ended up in Overwatch, and wouldn't want to anyway. Lena is left on the stoop. Imogen knows who she is and has her orders, but the fear isn't of the orders - it's legitimately of Lena. She reports the encounter back to her CO. Two more weeks of _this_ kind of crap pass.  

  * 2074, Saturday, March 24th: Lena confesses to Winston that things are strange, and lonely. Winston saves the conversation and starts deepest possible analysis to look for Talon tampering with her mind. (On Overcoming The Fear of Spiders, Chapter 18, "Brighton, on the beach.")  

  * 2074, Monday, March 26th: Angela Ziegler contacts Lena, arranges to meet up with her on April 2nd, a week later, in London. Asks if Lena would rather come to Switzerland, that she could buy the tickets; Lena prefers to remain in England, she's worried she might not get back in if she leaves.  

  * 2074, Monday, April 2nd, Mercy and Lena Oxton meet in London, mostly at the Swiss Embassy. (On Overcoming The Fear of Spiders, Chapter 19, "Mercy")  

  * 2074, late April: Lacroix visits Gérard's grave, and confesses to the dead that she's not sure she could pull the trigger with Lena like she did with Gérard. It all but breaks her. (On Overcoming The Fear of Spiders, Chapter 8, "a fillette of chinon red, so dark, almost purple")  

  * 2074, April, after Chapter 8: Lena is frustrated, bored, depressed. She's travelled some around England and made some vacation-friends at the hostels and is working out, but it's all cover, and she doesn't understand why. Money's not doing so great (and MI5 knows this - it's part of their pressure.) Sometime in here, she runs into Imogen again, who says the things she's quoted as saying in On Overcoming The Fear of Spiders, Chapter 20: the grinding stone.  

  * 2074, Wednesday, May 2nd: The day Lena Oxton breaks. (On Overcoming The Fear of Spiders, Chapter 20, "the grinding stone")  

  * 2074, Friday, May 4th: Lena Oxton is told her flight status is revoked, permanently. She is given a no-choice choice to accept civilian retirement, and activates her Talon recall beacon at 3am Saturday, April 28th, in Trafalgar Square, because she wanted to give the whole damn country the two-finger salute. (On Overcoming The Fear of Spiders, Chapter 21, "that which remains" and Chapter 22, "twenty seconds into the future" (first half))  

  * 2074, Saturday, May 5th: "Tracer" is now gone. While she hasn't picked the name yet and is still forming, Lena Oxton is now Venom. (On Overcoming The Fear of Spiders, Chapter 22, "twenty seconds into the future" (second half))  

  * 2074, Tuesday, June 1st: Lena gets Amélie to tell Winston what really happened that terrible night in 2070. (On Overcoming The Fear of Spiders, Chapter 23, "the home they'd built together" (wrapper))  

  * 2074, Wednesday, June 2nd: Lena tells Winston that she's with Talon. Winston is unhappy, but can't do anything about it from the moon. Lena says she thinks she can make Talon something Winston can, if not support, tolerate. He doesn't agree. (On Overcoming The Fear of Spiders, Chapter 24, "Anger Management")  

  * 2074, June: Widowmaker realises Venom can perceive the web of history, at least a little, and explores that. (On Overcoming The Fear of Spiders, Chapter 25, "'Show me,' said the Widowmaker")  

  * 2074, August: Lena "Venom" Oxton, deeply in love with Amélie Lacroix, joins Widowmaker on mission for the first time. It succeeds; all targets are killed. (On Overcoming The Fear of Spiders, Chapter 11, "Un ballet d'enchevêtrement quantique, en deux parties," first half)  

  * 2074, September 1st: This is the closest Lena comes to conscious memory of the canon-world assassination of Mondatta, which she has been reliving - not just remembering, but _actually reliving_ \- repeatedly since she was recovered. (On Overcoming The Fear of Spiders, chapter 26, "memories of the fire")  

  * 2074, November: Lena Oxton kills Group Captain Aubrey Henderson in a long fight on top of a community centre roof in the north of England. She pumped him up with metabolic boosters and stamina enhancers first, to give him more of a chance than he gave her in London, and it's still not really close, but he surprises her before he dies. (the web of time, "Unfinished Business with the Group Captain")  




### 2075:

  * 2075, February: At what should be a simple business meeting, Lena "Venom" Oxton gets to show off a bit against the new leadership of the Menger Group, SIG Sauer specialists out of Texas, in North America. The delegation does not survive the meeting; the organisation does not survive the year. (On Overcoming The Fear of Spiders, Chapter 27, "a modernist improvisation")  

  * 2075, March: Venom talks Widowmaker into intervening in disaster / terror situations - positively - on those occasions where it can be done. (On Overcoming The Fear of Spiders, Chapter 29, "a triple entente" (third part)  

  * 2075: A Humanity First attack in Naples suddenly collapses into chaos, with hostages rescued. The situation is confusing to MI6 analysts until the less annoying of the two American agents notices something in a picture. (In order: On Overcoming The Fear of Spiders, Chapter 29, "a triple entente" (middle section), Chapter 28, "an uncomfortable silence," and Chapter 29, "a triple entente" (first section))  




### 2076:

  * 2076, summer, possibly a cool early June (HARD TIE TO CANON SHORT "ALIVE": the tree foliage is the dark green of full summer, and no turning yet; people are wearing light jackets): Venom and Widowmaker save Tekhartha Mondatta from a Null Sector assassination attempt. The web of history in Amélie Lacroix's mind explodes. (On Overcoming The Fear of Spiders, Chapter 30, "Mondatta (2)")  

  * 2076, summer, the days after Chapter 30: The world is in shock. Two Talon assassins have saved Tekhartha Mondatta and a huge crowd of both Omnic and Human followers and fans. The Omnium had expected a Human League or Humanity First attack, and, betrayed by Null Sector's attempt to start a war, immediately calls for resumption of talks with human authorities via the UN. Tekhartha Mondatta agrees to moderate, Tekhartha Zenyatta volunteers to be cultural aide and translator to the UN delegations. MI5 lets the name Lena "Tracer" Oxton be used in UK news coverage; Lena thinks it may be an offer. (On Overcoming The Fear of Spiders, Chapter 31, "the broken strand in the web of the world")  

  * 2076, late summer: Lena "Venom" Oxton is hurt in a firefight in Jakarta, specifically by having one of Widowmaker's mines blown up in her face; it almost kills her. At the urging of Dr. Mariani, she decides to go undergo a partial (and modified) implementation of the Widowmaker process to gain immunity to the effects of those mines. She's already been doing sniper training; her skills as a sniper climb dramatically as a result. She eventually adopts the name "Mockingbird" for her sniper persona. (Old Soldiers, Chapter 6, "is it good enough for you, still?")  

  * 2076, autumn: Lena "Venom" Oxton interrogates Gabriel Reyes about the Blackwatch action against Gérard Lacroix. (Old Soldiers, prelude)



### 2077:

  * 2077, January-May: The Omnium accepts official observer status at the UN. Switzerland agrees to host a Lunar embassy near the European UN headquarters, representing the gorilla colony on the moon, recognising its sovereign status and knowing unofficially it will be used to coordinate a new, much smaller Overwatch being organised by to-be Lunar Ambassador Winston and Lena Oxton. Overwatch will still be illegal in most UN countries, but because the embassy will be Lunar soil, it will be legal there.  

  * 2077, April: Lena Oxton tries to recruit Shimada Genji. It doesn't go entirely badly. They agree that Hanzo is a tool. She gets to meet Tekhartha Mondatta. (the web of time, "A Conversation in Nepal")  

  * 2077, June: Lena Oxton and Winston jointly issue the Overwatch recall code from the Lunar embassy in Switzerland, which is based strongly on Watchpoint Gibraltar, intentionally by them and the Swiss. (On Overcoming The Fear of Spiders, Chapter 32, "the longest way home")
  * 2077, September: Jack Morrison, working as a freelance mercenary for Los Muertos, has an operation disrupted by a world-class sniper. He's pretty sure who it is, since she's been trying to kill him since 2071. (Old Soldiers, Chapter 2, "A Little Out of Joint in Old Dorado").
  * 2077, October: Gabriel Reyes joins the new Overwatch as a consultant and strategist. (Old Soldiers, Chapter 1, "you look good in black"). He reports to Overwatch that Jack Morrison is alive. Talon agrees to let Overwatch try to bring him to justice before they move to kill him. (Old Soldiers, Chapter 4, "don't you feel better - at least, for now?" and Old Soldiers, Chapter 6, "Terrifying in Flight (I Just Wish We Had a Sniper)." Relatedly, Overwatch picks up Mockingbird (real name officially unknown, actually Lena "Venom" Oxton) as a sniper specialist. (Old Solders, Chapter 6, "Terrifying in Flight (I Just Wish We Had a Sniper).")
  * 2077, October: Lena "Venom" Oxton provides Angela "Mercy" Ziegler with comprehensive documentation on how to treat a Widowmaker-class assassin, but Dr. Ziegler insists that Venom/Mockingbird allow a complete body scan. Pressed, she demonstrates why it is critical that she do so. (Old Soldiers, Chapter 7, "is it good enough for you, still?") Without permission, she acquires said scan, but incorporates it into other data in such a way that she herself cannot read it. (Old Soldiers, Chapter 8, "that which we must not know")
  * 2077, November: Overwatch attempts to apprehend Jack Morrison alive in the New Mexico desert. It goes badly for Overwatch, as they find themselves facing a well-trained quasi-military force instead of typical under-trained gang fighters. (Old Soldiers, Chapter 9, "(not) dodging bullets.") Both sides get key video footage of Morrison's current abilities set, which neither understood before that moment - and Overwatch personnel discover the Ana Amari is, in fact, alive. (Old Soldiers, Chapters 9 and 10, "apologies, myths, and lies.") Upon their return to Gibraltar, Angela helps her wife deal with the fact her long-thought-dead mother has simply been in hiding, and Lena Oxton presses Overwatch to abandon the attempt to capture the former Strike Commander, and hand the task of killing him to Talon - but Mei-Ling Zhou convinces her to change her mind. (Old Soldiers, Chapter 11, "even now, it seems unreal," and Chapter 12, "i'm pretty sure what i saw, but i could be wrong.")




End file.
